Steam gets official support for Nintendo Switch Pro Controller

Valve has announced that the latest Beta of its Steam Client will officially support the Nintendo Switch’s Pro Controller, meaning that the hardware can be configured for use in Steam games as though it was an Xbox controller or Steam controller.

Although one doesn’t come with the console, the Switch’s Pro Controller is the most traditional input method for the console, and uses a layout that’s almost identical to the Xbox 360 controller, which has come to rival the traditional mouse and keyboard for the PC gamer’s control device of choice.

There are a couple of minor differences that prevent it from being a one-to-one replacement however. For one thing, the A and B, and the X and Y face buttons are swapped, which has the potential to get seriously confusing when you’re first starting to play a game.

Much more of a problem is the lack of analogue triggers, which the Pro Controller forgoes in favour of a pair of buttons that are completely digital. This means you can’t half press one of the triggers to moderately accelerate in a racing game, it’s all or nothing.

That said, no one makes a D-pad quite like Nintendo, and the Pro Controller is no exception. There’s just something that makes it feel so clicky and tactile, and neither the current generation of Xbox or PlayStation pads quite match it.

If you’d like to use the Pro Controller with Steam, then Valve has instructions on how to get it set up. Be warned that for now the functionality is in beta, so you might want to wait for a final release before you commit to making the switch.